


Kiss My Sins Away

by daenyara



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:41:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23930989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daenyara/pseuds/daenyara
Summary: the conversation about Bryce backstory but expanded because it's what he deserves.
Relationships: Bryce Lahela & Keiki Lahela, Bryce Lahela/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

[Originally posted by cutie---kisses](https://tmblr.co/ZN-jvf2izUhBp)

“I feel like you’re judging me, right now.”

Bryce’s voice comes out as a sigh, half-hurt and half-weary. Hurt, not surprised. People have been looking at him in disgust for years, and even though he knew it was only a matter of time before she found out about his past, Bryce isn’t sure he can stomach seeing that same expression in Victoria’s eyes. Not _her_ , not the first person who’s ever truly seen him. He suddenly feels a wave of exhaustion washing over him and he lets himself fall down on the sofa, careful not to meet her eyes. Once again his parents managed to ruin the one good thing he had.

Victoria sits next to him, close but leaving him enough space to pull back if he has to. Her amber eyes are widened, the specs of gold in them twinkling as she gives Bryce an apprehensive look. She can’t stop thinking about the snarky teenage runaway who’s currently sleeping in the other room, and how much she reminds her of Bryce. Keiki, his little sister… “ _Judging_ you? For what?”

He doesn’t meet her gaze, so she reaches out to cup his cheeks, gently but firmly forcing him to face her. “B, I don’t _care_ about who your parents are!” She smiles as she says it, the corners of her eyes gleaming with tears. 

She looks heaven-sent. His very own angel, come to take him away, thinks Bryce. He places his hands on top of hers, squeezing as if trying to check if she’s real, or maybe just hoping that it’ll keep her from running away. 

“I mean, I’d get it if you were mad.” He attempts a nonchalant shrug, but he just ends up with an even grimmer expression. He feels utterly pathetic, a fake grin plastered over his face as he speaks. The words are bitter on his tongue, they taste like defeat. “Turns out you’ve been dating the son of two criminals for almost a year. What does that say about your taste in men?”

A crease appears between Vic’s brows as she frowns. She lowers her hands but keeps them laced with his. “I’m not mad, Bryce. I’m sorry you didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell me, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, what was I supposed to do? Lead with that? It would’ve made a great first date topic, I bet,” he scoffs. His eyes darken for a moment, and when he speaks again the anger makes his voice tremble. “I _don’t like_ people knowing _this_ about me, Victoria.”

This time Vic doesn’t reply, not with words anyway. Instead, she scoots closer, wrapping her arms around his waist. His hesitation barely lasts a second, then he hugs her back, nuzzling her neck as her curly hair tickles his face. Her hold is so strong that it makes it harder to breathe, and yet he’s never felt so comfortable. 

They stay just like that, in silence, for what could easily be either a minute or a whole day. Then he breaks away from her and starts talking. 

Once he begins, it’s like a dam has been broken⎯ the words start flowing from his lips and he can’t do anything to stop them. If he can, he doesn’t even try to. When he was younger, there were times when Bryce wanted to run away in a place where no one knew him. Now he’s looking at her, and he’d want nothing more than to hand her his soul.

He tells her about his parents, about how hard he worked to get where he is, how awful it was to try and make people forget about his name… How people always assumed the worst about him because of something he didn’t do, and how he had hoped she’d never found out about his past.

On her part, Vic listens carefully. Her thumb draws slow circles on the inside of his wrist as he confides, but her eyes never leave his, fixed on the dark brown of his irises. 

There’s no judgment in her expression. Why would she ever think poorly about him? He’s still Bryce, _her Bryce_. He makes her want to fight. For herself and what she believes him, sure, but also for him… he makes her want to fight for _them_.

When he’s done, Bryce lets out a shaky breath that almost sounds funny, and Vic leans in so that her foreheads are touching. “Thank you. For telling me.”

The flicker of a smile. “You make me want to tell you stuff.”

Vic presses her lips against his. He deepens the kiss almost immediately, hand sliding up to reach the back of her neck and pull her close her. He’s clinging onto her as if she’s kissing away his sins, but she wouldn’t understand that. To her, Bryce is nothing short of _goddamn_ perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> soft late-night conversation while Keiki is asleep

[Originally posted by lilpieceofmyworld](https://tmblr.co/ZLry9k2eLpJmM)

“What are you thinking about?”

Bryce studies Victoria’s profile as she lays beside him, his arm secured around her waist. Even in the faint light of the one floor lamp illuminating the apartment, he can easily make out her features⎯ he wouldn’t need to see what he already knows by heart, anyway. 

She’s biting the inside of her cheek like she always does when she’s pensive, and there’s something unsurprisingly endearingly in the way her eyes crinkle when she furrows her brows.

It’s almost 2 AM, but neither of them has been able to fall asleep. Partly because of how uncomfortable the sofa feels, partly because they’re both unable to silence their thoughts. 

They implicitly agreed that she was going to spend the night, for which Bryce is more than grateful for. At least it’ll spare him from some awkward moments alone with his teenage sister, in the morning. And it just feels right, being like this, with Vic’s heartbeat humming softly against his own as she distractedly plays with the bands around his wrist.

“I don’t remember your face,” admits Victoria after a moment. She turns to the side and leans on her elbow so she can look at him better. He’s staring back at her in confusion, with his mouth slightly agape, and it would almost make her chuckle if she wasn’t so distracted. Instead, she huffs impatiently. “ _From the papers_ , I meant. Your family was all over the news, but for some reason, I can’t remember your face.”

“That’s a first. Usually, everybody remembers _this_.” Bryce gestures at his face, the pearl white of his teeth in nice contrast with the olive-brown of his skin. When she rolls her eyes he sighs, his playful demeanour fading as quickly as his dazzling smile. His jaw clenches briefly, before relaxing again. “Honestly, Vic… I’m glad you didn’t recognize me. Or that we haven’t met years ago, for all that matters. At least my parents didn’t ruin my chances before I could charm you with my dazzling personality.”

Victoria scoffs at his half-smile. “Don’t be an idiot, Bryce.” She sounds urgent, maybe a bit too curt, as if she’s in such a hurry to speak her mind that she doesn’t even have the time to be kind. “You would’ve had _plenty_ of chances. Any day.”

Her words linger between the two of them, blunt and firm and loving just like the kiss that follows. Bryce’s lips twitch in amusement, dark eyes ablaze with both gratitude and curiosity. 

“Oh, yeah?”

“You know I only spend time with you ‘cause you’re hot, anyway,” replies Victoria as she flashes him a wink, and he bursts into laughter before remembering about Keiki sleeping in the other room and catching himself. 

Shaking his head at Vic’s antics he yanks her closer until she’s draped over him like a blanket, with the tip of her nose pressed into the crook of his neck. Then he rests his chin on her head, letting out a content breath.

“What do you think would’ve happened if we’d met in high-school?” asks Bryce after a long while.

“Didn’t you say you had long hair and wore a leather jacket?”

“Yeah, so?”

He can feel Victoria’s lips curling into a smirk against the soft skin of his neck. 

“ _So_ , a rebel with a bad reputation, a dysfunctional family and a face like yours? That was _exactly_ my type as a teenager.”

Bryce snorts, but his hands start gently stroking her back. “Are you saying we would’ve been high-school sweethearts?”

“We would’ve been the coolest couple. You would’ve given me lots of rides on your rich-people car and kissed me inappropriately by my locker before class,” explains Victoria, only half-joking. “We would’ve gone to so many parties, turning heads wherever we’d go. I would’ve snuck in your room late at night, _obviously_ ,” she adds with a mischievous wiggle of her brows.

He grins wolfishly at the mental image. “That doesn’t sound half bad. What would’ve we done late at night in my room, in that nice fantasy of yours?”

She doesn’t answer immediately, as if thinking about it. “We could’ve run away from home together.” Vic has spoken quietly, almost nonchalantly, like it’s still all part of a joke. But from the way she says it, Bryce knows there’s more to it than that. He stamps a kiss on the top of her head, thinking about the implicit promise in her words. 

More silence. More kisses. Then Victoria’s face brightens with realization. “A lot of stuff you told me finally makes sense, now.”

“Like what?”

“ _I’ve been counted out my whole life for a lot of reasons. How I look is by far the least of them,_ ” she repeats, mirroring Bryce’s tone. 

He’s taken aback for a moment. She constantly forgets her keys or to water the plants, but she remembers exactly what he’s told her almost a year before. The way Victoria cares about him, the way she truly listens… That’s something he’ll probably never get used to. 

Shaking away the thought, he decides to simply smile and feign mild surprise. “I said that?”

“When we went to that concert together, last year.” Vic nods, her hand moving to rest upon his heart (whether by chance or intention, it’s unclear).

“Ah, _right_. Our first date,” hums Bryce, now grinning widely. “Does my memory deceive me, or did you call me _‘skin-deep beauty_ ’ that night?”

“I plead the fifth.” They both laugh under their breath, and when she meets his eyes she’s looking at him with something like a mix of sheer wonder and enamoured devotion. “You really _are_ beautiful, Bryce.”

He raises a brow, his expression still playful. “Don’t I know that…”

Victoria smacks his chest with a groan, but she doesn’t look too annoyed. “I’m _serious_. I’m not talking about your looks, you’re⎯” she fumbles with her words for a moment, unable to find a fitting way to describe the person she loves the most in the whole world. She hisses in frustration before taking a deep breath and continuing, “You’re the most incredible person I know, and I don’t want you to think that I could ever, _ever_ think less of you because of what you told me about your parents.”

He doesn’t hesitate to kiss her. “Mmh, I like it when you’re nice, V. Please, feel free to keep complimenting me.”

Her happy expression turns into a grimace at his invite. “Ugh, don’t hold it against me!”

“Too late. I’ll bring it up _constantly_. _You think I’m beautiful._ ” 

Bryce is practically singing at that point, and Vic has to purse her lips not to smile at the smugness on his face. He remains weirdly quiet for a second, a smile gracing his lips as he moves a rebel curl from her face and starts stroking her cheek with his thumb. 

“I think you’re _a_ _fucking_ _miracle_ ,” he murmurs after a bit, and the ache in her heart is so sweet she’d happily succumb to it.


End file.
